UPS plane crash in Kentucky kills at least 12, including child, as death toll rises

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A federal official said Wednesday that a UPS cargo plane’s left wing caught fire and an engine detached moments before the aircraft crashed and exploded after takeoff in Kentucky, killing at least 12 people, including a child.

NTSB investigators said they also found the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.

Authorities were searching for additional victims in an industrial area next to the airport where the UPS plane slammed into businesses Tuesday afternoon and exploded after taking off from the company’s distribution hub.

Several people on the ground were killed, Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said. About a dozen people were injured.

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Video showed the plane’s left wing was on fire when it took off, moments before it crashed into an industrial area at the end of the runway.

The plane, bound for Honolulu and fully loaded with fuel, shredded the roof of one large building before erupting into a fireball near a metal recycling business.

The fire chief said the blaze stretched nearly a city block.

The plane narrowly missed a restaurant bar and went down not far from a Ford auto assembly plant where hundreds of people were working, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told CNN on Wednesday.

What we know about the victims 

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The governor predicted that the death toll would rise, saying authorities were looking for a "handful of other people" but "we do not expect to find anyone else alive."

Mark Little, chief of the Okolona Fire District in Louisville, said debris would have to be moved and searched, adding: "It will take us quite a while."

University of Louisville Hospital said two people were in critical condition in the burn unit. Eighteen people were treated and discharged at that hospital or other health care centers.

Beshear said he did not know the status of the three UPS crew members aboard the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991. It was not clear if they were being counted among the dead.

Big picture view:

Package sorting at UPS' mammoth handling facility in Louisville remained shut down Wednesday.

The hub — called UPS Worldport — employs thousands of workers, handles 300 flights daily and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.

What they're saying:

"After being cleared for takeoff. A large plume of fire in the area of the left wing occurred during the takeoff, roll. The plane lifted off and gained, gained enough altitude to clear the fence at the end of runway 17R," NTSB Board Member Todd Inman told reporters Wednesday.

"Shortly after clearing that fence, it made impact with structures and the terrain off of the airport property," he added. "A post impact fire ensued, which covers approximately almost a half of a mile, and we have viewed airport CCTV security coverage, which shows the left engine detaching from the wing during the takeoff roll."

"We all know somebody who works at UPS," Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe said. "And they’re all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe."

Aviation attorney Pablo Rojas said video of the crash suggests the plane struggled to gain altitude as fire blazed along its left side near an engine.

"There’s very little to contain the flames, and really the plane itself is almost acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel," he said.

He said it's hard to know if the pilot saw the flames, and that even if the crew realized there was a problem, aborting the takeoff might've been even more dangerous.

What's next:

UPS said the National Transportation Safety Board will handle the crash investigation. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, was built in 1991.

Kentucky